About The Team

Monday, January 18, 2016

I wanted to write this blog post to celebrate Karen Berelowitz of Karmabee and to congratulate her on her amazing 4 years of business in her bricks and mortar store on the Strand in Kingston.

Karen has decided to close her well loved store for the time being but is set to continue being a fixture at local farmers markets, craft fairs and of course online.

The store opened its doors in 2011 and was one of the first to capitalize on the renewal of the area which today sees many visitors to the historic waterfront site and to the new stores, cafes and restaurants that have since opened.

Karmabee Store

In her time on the Strand Karen has been instrumental in local community events including the monthly night markets, events such as Sinterklaas, Hooley on the Hudson, the Shamrock Run and many more. She also joined Re>Think Local and regularly contributed to small business shopping events.

The store not only sold Karmabees distinctive range of hand screen printed t-shirts, onesies and cards but Karen also championed local craft makers including many from the Hudson Valley Etsy Team. Thanks to Karen many of us have been able to count on regular sales from Karmabee and we have also benefitted from having a local store that we can send our customers to.

Personally I have really enjoyed popping into Karmabee every couple of months to bring in new stock and to chat with Karen about what we have both been making and craft fairs we are doing. Working on a small craft business from home can be quite a lonely pursuit and having people like Karen to touch base with once in a while was such a blessing.

Gorgeous Karmabee themed cake at the store closing party

I hope everyone is together with me in wishing Karen every success in her future endeavors. We are excited to see what plans she has in store for Karmabee.

In the mean time Karmabee can still be found on Etsy and Amazon and in the warmer months she will be returning to the uptown Kingston Farmers Markets.

Friday, January 8, 2016

Every year Pantone launches a color of the year which is set to inspire and influence everything from fashion to home wares for that coming year. In a change from tradition this year Pantone has named a blend of two colors Rose Quartz and Serenity as their colors of the year. Pantone says that their selection is

A symbolic color selection; a color snapshot of what we see taking place in our culture that serves as an expression of a mood and an attitude.

By using Pantones suggested colors of the year designers and makers can tap into new trends in the marketplace. Etsy itself is likely to pick up on these trends and could potentially use these products in features and Etsy Finds. Here are some amazing products by our own Makers on Hudson team members that are already showcasing these trends: